April 28th Kubo v Ishikawa - Ishikawa is not good

Mayumi still harboured the desire to give Kubo a complete game victory. This time both got their wish as the batting crushed the rather inadequate Swallows pitching. Johjima who has been in a bit of a slump managed to work himself out of it but the real star of the show was Hirano who went four from five. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    3 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 9 15 0
Swallows  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3  6 0

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Murton (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Johjima (Catcher)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Sakurai (Right)
8. Nohmi (Left)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Tanaka (Second)
2. Miyamoto (Third)
3. Aoki (Centre)
4. Guiel (Right)
5. Iihara (Left)
6. Yuichi (First)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

Nohmi was replaced by Kanoh before the match started.

Ishikawa hasn't been pitching well and it would show in the very first innings. Murton led off with a centre hit. Hirano tried to bunt but this didn't come off and Murton stayed on first. This didn't really matter as Toritani hit nicely to left for a two run home run 2-0 Tigers. Arai followed up with a left hit and then stole second. Johjima grounded out but moved Arai to third and then Brazell hit to left driving in the runner 3-0 Tigers, runner on first with two outs. Sakurai grounded out to end the innings. If your pitcher is not performing well, you don't want the opposition pitcher to pitch well but this is precisely the situation the Swallows found themselves in. Kubo was superb and in fact would be perfect for 5.2 innings. All three batters in the Swallows first fell with consumate ease. Kanoh led off the Tigers second with a hit. Kubo contrived to mess up his three bunt attempts and was out. Hirano hit to first which set up runners on first and second but Toritani couldn't convert and the innings was scoreless. In Swallows second, Guiel flew out and then Kubo struck out Iihara and Yuichi in succession. Arai led off Tigers third with a two base hit. Johjima perhaps lacking confidence bunted him to third. Brazell took a swing but only succeeded in hitting to Ishikawa. The latter threw to the home plate and got Arai going for home, Brazell was safe on first but the run had been avoided. Sakurai hit to set up runners on first and second but this time Kanoh couldn't convert. A lucky escape for the Swallows. In Swallows third, Kubo induced all three batters to ground out.

Hirano hit in Tigers fourth but nothing came of this. In Swallows fourth Kubo struck out Miyamoto and Aoki. The last time I remember pitching like this against the Swallows was Igawa's last game for Tigers where they were unable to hit him for at least four innings and the realisation that the first hit had taken so long was quite surprising. Brazell hit in Tigers fifth but once again nothing came of this. Swallows fifth was quiet as well. In Tigers sixth Ishikawa pulled off a unique feat for him. He managed to retire the batters 1-2-3. Kubo got the first two outs in the bottom but then walked Ueda in four. One feels the umpire may have had too much of a prominent role in this but the next batter Tanaka hit (Swallow's first hit of the match) and Swallows had runners on first and second. Miyamoto grounded out to second and the Swallows first chance had been extinguished.

Tigers seventh bought a new pitcher, Takagi. He was worse than Ishikawa. Hirano led off the innings with a two base hit. Toritani struck out but then Arai walked. Next up was Johjima who hasn't been hitting well of late. In fact he was so worried that he took some special batting practice with Mayumi to try and iron out his problems. It certainly worked. Johjima blasted his first pitch over the left centre fence for a three run home run 6-0 Tigers. Once he crossed the home plate rather than touch palms he embraced Mayumi to say thank you for the help. The next two batters then fell easily but the Tigers were in control. Kubo does tire in the seventh but with a six run lead this is not so important. Aoki led off Swallows seventh with a solo home run 6-1 Tigers. Iihara hit with one out but then Yuichi hit into a double play to end the innings. For Tigers eighth Kanemoto led the innings off as a pinch hitter. He blasted a solo home run as well 7-1 Tigers. Once again Hirano hit but Tigers didn't add to the score. Kubo returned for the Swallows eighth and it was clear that Mayumi still wanted to give him his complete game victory. With two out he gave up a solo home run to Takeuchi (pinch hitter) 7-2 Tigers. Hashimoto replaced Takagi in Tigers ninth but Swallows ordeal was not over yet. He walked Johjima with one out and then faced Brazell. Brazell hammered his first pitch into the right stand for a two run home run 9-2 Tigers and the game was out of sight. The next two batters, Sakurai and Katsuragi (pinch hitter) struck out looking but it really didn't matter. Kubo of course returned for Swallows ninth in the almost certain expectation of a complete game victory. He had to work for it though. Miyamoto led the innings off with a hit. Aoki drove a two base to left centre to set up runners on second and third with on outs. Guiel was next and he flew out to Arai in foul ground - no run there. Iihara took a dead ball to load the bases with the next batter Fujimoto (pinch hitter). All he could manage was a sacrifice fly 9-3 Tigers, runners on second and third but by now there was only one out to get. This proved to be D'Antona who struck out swinging, a very satisfactory way for Kubo to achieve his complete game. Tigers victory.

Kubo has a complete game victory now and one hopes that Mayumi will show a bit more sense in his next start and bring on the relief pitchers. Kubo does need a rest from time to time and this game had the batting support he needed. However, in the Carp game he didn't have this and Tigers lost. His pitching particularly the early stages was superb and he had done very well. Tigers can be very pleased with this victory.